spawn73:Wrong.According to the liner notes from Clash on Broadway, "Rock the Casbah" originated when the band's manager Bernie Rhodes, after hearing them record an inordinately long track for the album, asked them facetiously "does everything have to be as long as this rāga?" (referring to the Indian musical style known for its length and complexity). Joe Strummer later wrote the opening lines to the song: "The King told the boogie-men 'you have to let that rāga drop'". The rest of the lyrics soon followed.

In other news, this is pretty scary. Turkey is quite moderate, and Istanbul itself is always considered VERY safe for westerners (at least the European side, don't know about the Asia side).

Not much longer. The Islamicists are taking over Turkey, and it's not a sure thing that the Turkish military is going to save the day, like several times before. Kemal Aratuk's legacy will soon die, and Turkey will slide back down into Islamic savagery. And no longer will Farkers be able to plainatively bleat "But what about Turkey??" when I explain that *every* society controlled by Muzzies is a hellhole.